Retrospective>>top 10 Drift Cars Of All Time Pt.3

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It’s time to finish up our look at the top 10 drift cars of all time and reveal our pick for number one. Before we reveal the top car, let’s first look at some of our “honorable mentions”. These are cars that made people’s lists but did not quite make it into the group’s top 10. Cars like Kawabata’s S15 pictured above are a good example of these cars. Although the car has achieved a lot of success in D1 recently, it coudn’t quite match up with the other cars on the list as far as the overall picture is concerned.

Here a few more of our honorable mentions.

Testsuya Hibino’s AE86 came very close to making our list. Nobody will forget his famous jumping escapades at Ebisu Circuit a few years ago. Although he has gone through a few different AE86’s and even an S15, the Levin coupe pictured above is probably the most memorable of his cars. Hibino’s aggressive driving style is a perfect match for the nimble AE86 and this combination has earned Hibino and his 86’s many fans over the years.

Samuel Hubinette’s various Vipers also deserve a mention here. Especially his original Viper Competition Coupe which won both the first Formula D event ever and the inagural Formula D season championship. Like the RMR GTO, this car also represented the introduction of big sponsors to pro drifting and the high-dollar Viper stood in great contrast to a lot of the grassroots cars that were seen in Formula D’s first season. After spending some time in the Dodge Charger, Sam is now back in a Viper for 2008.

Takahiro Ueno’s JZZ30 Soarer also came very close to making the list. Even though the car has not dominated competition-wise, Ueno has been driving a JZZ30 since the beginning of D1 and he has probably appeared in more D1 events worldwide than any other driver (except maybe for Nomuken). Like Nomuken’s ER34, Ueno’s Soarers have been constantly evolving over the years with more power and a more aggressive exterior. Ueno’s cars have also done in a lot in establishing the Soarer/Lexus SC300 as popular drift platform worldwide.

We couldn’t leave out the Top Secret S15 Silvia driven by Ryuji Miki. Besides being known for its eye-catching gold livery, this is car won the D1GP Championship in 2004 and then appeared in the UK after being retired in Japan. The main thing that kept this car from being ranked higher is its relatively short lifespan as competitive pro car. It would eventually be replaced by Top Secret’s RB26-powered Z33, a car which struggled to achieve success even with a number of different drivers.

Now that the honorable mentions are out of the way, it’s time for our number one pick.

Breakthrough innovation: Yasuyuki Kazama was one of the first drifters to use the S15 Silvia and went into personal debt to pay for it. During it’s heyday, the green S15 driven by Kazama was one of the most consistent and top performing cars in D1GP. Besides racking up tons of event wins, Kazama also became known for performing his famed “rodeo drift” with this car. Even with different sponsors and drivers over the years, this S15 has continued to be top performers and fan favorites in D1.

Notable Achievements: In various forms over the years, AP Boss S15’s have had an astonishing 11 victories in various D1GP events making it the most victorious D1 car of all time. Kazama had a string of wins at Iriwindale Speedway earning him and his car tons of respect among drifting fans in the US and you can also add the 2005 D1GP championship to the list of the car’s achievements. There have been at least a few different versions of this car over the years and to be honest we are not positive on the current whereabouts of all of them. Although Kazama is no longer active in D1, the AP Boss-built S15 continues to be campaigned in D1 and is now being driven by Youichi Imamura for ’08. With Imamaura behind the wheel, the red-painted car has already ranked up two victories this season at Odaiba and Okayama. Another chassis (old US version?) has recently been seen in Norway in its original green livery.

Lasting Influence: I don’t think there is a single drifting enthusiast who can forget the domination and excitement brought by Kazama’s green machine, and now the car lives on with Imamura as its pilot. Time will tell whether Kazama will return to D1 or not, but if he ever does it would be strange to see him driving anything other than an S15 Silvia.

So there you have it, our picks for the top 10 drift cars of all time.

Comments

31 comments

I disagree as well. I think Ueno's T&E Soarer should have taken the top spot, but it really disappoints me to see that all the car gets is an honorable mention, it seriously couldn't make the top 10 at least?

I think having an H-pattern shifter on the AP-Boss S15 makes it special because it shows Kazama's ability to be one of the best drifters without having the advantage of a sequential shifter. But uh, please do this Top 10 again and remove the GTO and Mustang and put it on the honorable mention instead. I mean, no one dreams about the Mustang and GTO. You should replace that with Ueno's Soarer and Haruguchi's FC or Haruyama's A31 or C35. Plus, Nomuken's ER34 should be on 3 or 2.

Huh?! The RE Amemiya didn't make the list at all? Not even an honourable mention? It beat the MCR on the touge, appeared in so forms over so many drfit competitions, and it wasn't good enough I think Nomuken's ER34 should be more well-known than even the Top Secret S15.

oh yeah and koguchi should have been in the top 3 EASILY. its the same chassis he's been using eversince everyone was ogling at the old school video when it was black with blitz rims. he's kept the same car through all those years, through different livery, through all the crazy modifications, its the same car today as it was back when he first started. which is more than you could say than all those cars in the list. let alone his reputation in the 180sx scene.

lol seems to be truly the first time the readers unanimously disagree with a post made by the Speedhunters staff. I have to roll with the readers and say that this list was a bit disappointing. I think you guys mentioned some great cars, but for no so good reasons. The order is all fumbled too. You missed out ALOT of good cars too.

The title of these posts is Top 10 drift cars of all time. Yet you point out a reason for the Kei Office being number one is that Kazama went into personal debt for it. Thats cool and all but it doesnt mean its better than a JUN auto D1 Impreza or and HKS Hyper Silvia. You know how many silvia heads go into debt for our cars? LOL. I think this is more like a top 10 driver list than anything else.

I don't know, I guess you guys chatting amongst yourselves for this list was the first mistake. You should have let the readers choose the nominations and then let us vote for top 10.

Good list guys... Top Secret S15 is beyond awesome. But boy were you asking for it by making a list...I could have told you the flamethrowers would be out en masse. Take it as a compliment though, if they hate it means they care, keep up the good work!!

Yeah when we were putting the list together we knew it would cause some "controversy" but it''s all in good fun of course. There is nothing definitive or official about the list, just something we wanted to do for fun and to spark some discussion. After reading some of the comments I guess we did mostly aim towards pro cars and left out some of the more grassroots cars. Maybe another list our favorite "old school" drift cars can be done sometime?

Man, props to everyone that actually stood up for the Speedhunters crew. Really, if you hate it, make your own list, stop reading, or just shut up. Flames is for haters, and haters never get anywhere.

Lots of props to Mike and the Speedhunters for making this list, knowing some nerds would crack down on some simple, honest opinions.

And following up on Johnny's comment, you guys knock Kazama's S15 for nitrous, but don't even think about Yoshioka, Kumakubo, or Kawabata's machines? Many top machines either use or used nitrous in their set-ups. I'm not gonna say what for, that's just one more thing for you fanboys to front like you know all about it.

^ both of you guys make no sense. How can you say "if you don't like it don't read it"? Even Mike said they expected controversy, that's the way to start a discussion. Do you expect people to just agree with everything Speedhunters has to say? Speedhunters wants readers here no matter what. I think the discussion and disagreement is what makes this site a good one. It sparks conversation. Sure some of the comments are inaccurate/inappropriate but that's the nature of the beast. You call others fanboys but it looks like you guys are the Speedhunters fanboys of the week! Congrats!

^^ Ouch, that one's got you guys, Maybe they meant to not read the lists...?

Still, the comments make for good discussion, guys. Just like the Speedhunters are allowed to say what they want, the readers are entitled to the same in the comments section. Nice try for trying to quell the flames, though. Don't try too hard, your inner fanboy can get you in a hard place, sometimes.

Lol, WHO CARES! I think it's good that people are disagreeing with the choices of the SpeedHunters crew. I mean, let's not turn Speedhunters comments into a youtube-esque flame war complete with your own idealistic beliefs.

i think yoshioka's ae86 should have been mentioned too or drift samurai's fc and taniguchi's altezza or orido's supra. i mean a lot of cars were missed but those are good cars for top ten. two s15's throw me off. i know ones better than the other but s15 is a s15

^ agreed. kazama's s15 marks a lot of starting legacies, i.e. Kazama's chain of victories to the end of Ueo's hachi days to Imamura's S15 stint. Hopefully, Imamura doesn't flop any worse than Ueo in the D1 series. Ueo did good, but not as good as everyone expected.

This car was basically a symbolic ambassador to the sport, lets not act stupid. Back in like 02,03 or 04 when you searched "drifting" on kazaa, bear share or any one of those type of programs... you found a video of a black 180sx droppin tons of tire at nikko circuit.

Or you found a video or some pictures of that thing when it was green. Engine pushed back like 4 inches... killing it in the rain at Fuji? Kart course.

" I don't think there is a single drifting enthusiast who can forget the domination and excitement brought by Kazama's green machine"

This chassis was never availible in the states, but the S13 was and the AE86 and the FC. Back in the day, (2003 lol) if you owned a 240sx, you wanted it to look like Koguchis. If you had a rolla, you wanted it to be or look like Ueos. And if you had a FC... your were jerkin off to haruguchis feature in Doriten

Never ever put two wack USA cars in front of a legendary machine like that. Vaughn is one of the dopest drivers in the world, but his car aint cooler then anything koguchi ever drove.

But seriously, if your going to have 2 american cars... why not a single euro beast. Like D macs rolla car before falken took its soul.

Honorable mentions.... Kawabata's car is not needed to be talked about.... that car is young as hell. For a J car, not iconic.... Hibions Ae86 was always kinda trashy up til about 06.

Mopar Vipers, I'm surprised it wasn't on the list.... one of the most annoying drift cars of all time.

Uenos is dope, but no need for 2 VIP cars on the list so good choice (then again, broke the mold for all the cool 1J and 2J cars in the series.

Top secret S15... never did well when it came to the states. Only had like 1 or 2 solid years in japan.

Thank you Speedhunters for honoring us with the number spot on your list.

There are only 2 real chassis that have been used in competition. The current one and a back-up car. The one in Europe was a replica built and painted to resemble the competition car and shipped to Europe. This season's car was completely overhauled with a new engine, drivetrain and suspension. The only thing that was reused was the base chassis and the dash.

At the time of Kazama's championship and up to recently there was no NOS in the car. Only since last season was NOS reintroduced to the power plant. We run a single fogger wet system.

The main car was running a Holinger and the chassis that was in UK and US was running a Nismo 6 speed. For this season, both chassis are running HKS sequential trannys. Which is the tranny of choice for most of the 10 field.

Again thank you for the honor of being on the list. Please support us as we work for this season's championship.

how can such shitboxes like that gto and that viper be on the list, some of the most iconic drift cars that didnt make the list which is ridiculous kurois 1via everyone would know nomukens 34 should be very high up there and of course uenos soarer should have been up there even oridos supra still made a mark on the world

i suprised that u guys forgot about orido's rsr supra that thing was the shiz. it should of been on the list somewhere.

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